


ano'ng / annyeong

by dyules



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Exchange students, Filipino Hunk (Voltron), Filipino Lance (Voltron), Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, Traffic, this is set in the philippines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-14 21:04:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8028919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyules/pseuds/dyules
Summary: Exchange Student AU. All Lance wanted was to impress some girls with his mastery of King Sejong's language, but he ended up as the long-suffering buddy to international exchange student Keith.





	1. week 1 log: perhaps a disaster(?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> s/o to [kray](https://twitter.com/kraypls/status/775741594565681153) who so kindly made art ❤❤❤❤ i'm cryi ng

When Lance signed up for the _International Buddy Program_ , he was expecting to pair up with some cute Korean girls. _Korean_ , specifically, because he spent the last school year as an exchange student in South Korea, and he was more than ready to impress them with his mastery of King Sejong's language. He _told_ Allura this. He applied to her in person for this. And yet, she still had to saddle him with a thankless, ungrateful, stuck-up automaton by the name of Keith Gyeong.

"Allura, _Princess_ , we talked about this! I thought you were on my side!" Lance was pouting in front of her desk in the program's small office. Allura was trying very hard to be patient.

"Lance, I heard your request, and I considered it! But honestly, you were being a creep - still being a creep - and I will do everything to protect them from you!" Her British accent fell harsh on Lance's burning ears.

"Ouch," chimed in Shiro, who was sitting on a corner chair, stapling together some pamphlets for their recruitment drive. " _Don't Be A No-Buddy!_ " shouted one particular graphic. Another called out, " _Find Your Seoul-mate!_ " in garish purple. Shiro's handsome, smiling face was starting to get on Lance's nerves.

"Why are you even here, Shiro? Don't you have some other worthy social work to do?" Lance spat the words out before he could stop himself, and regret immediately flooded him as he watched Shiro's face drop. Shiro was the nicest guy in the planet and he was being unfair. Even Allura was glaring at him.

Lance shook his head, breathing in, "Sorry, Shiro, I- I didn't mean that. It's just - we've known each other for a week and this- this Keith has already offended me on every level possible--"

He stood up and started a litany of the various ways Keith had offended him - something about his attitude when Lance picked him up from the airport, something about having to run around campus to finish Keith's enlistment process (" _Did you know that the distance from Human Kinetics to the Registrar is 1.3 kilometers? And I had to walk back and forth because my car is under coding?_ "), something about Keith calling him up all the time for a ride because he hasn't figured out public transportation yet, something about how Keith's mullet was offensive to the 21st century.

Lance let himself fall back onto the waiting chair with a whine. "This morning, Professor Holt made me sing and dance in front of his class for a slot. For Keith! I haven't even finished _my_ enlistment yet."

It was now Allura's turn to speak. She pulled off her glasses and faced Lance with an impenetrable look. "Keith was with you all this time?"

"Uh, what?"

"Keith was running all around campus with you? Keith was there at Professor Holt's lecture hall?"

Lance sunk down about an inch into his chair, as the answer was pulled from him quite unwillingly. "Well... yes.”

"You attended the orientation, Lance? Read the handbook we gave you when you volunteered?"

Cold sweat was pouring down Lance's back at Allura's continuous prodding. He shifted a little bit in his suddenly uncomfortable chair, looked back at Shiro, who was determinedly stapling more pamphlets than before, and finally looked back towards Allura.

"Yeah...", he said, deflating.

Allura's tone softened. "Lance," she said, although it sounded more like _Launce_ to his ears, "I was glad you volunteered for this program, since you'd been an exchange student yourself. You know what it's like to be virtually alone, displaced in another country, another culture, very unlike yours. You even told me your university buddies helped you feel very welcome despite your, uh, numerous concerns. I thought you'd be more empathetic."

The trace of disappointment in Allura's voice was really what did him in. Okay, so maybe he was being petty, just because Keith's mullet, pale skin, and the way he ran beside Lance across campus to get to the Registrar in time was irritating him for some reason.

Allura was still looking at him as though she was expecting him to say something, but when he didn't, she continued with a sigh. "Keith had just finished mandatory military training; after his discharge, he signed up for the exchange student program immediately." She threw up both her hands, "Maybe he wanted a change of pace, maybe not, who knows? We're not here to psychoanalyze him. We're here to make sure he integrates well, makes friends, has a fun and meaningful stay. Now, can you do that or not?"

Lance's face was on fire. He didn't want to admit defeat. How long would it take for Keith to integrate - three weeks, a month at most? He could do that. Maybe Keith would even stop calling him in for chauffeur services before that time.

"I'll do it," Lance met Allura's blue eyes. He couldn't keep the reluctance from his voice, but his eyes were steady. "I'll stay with Keith."

Allura smiled at him, widely this time, and Lance almost fell in love with her all over again, until she started shooing him away for her "other appointments". He was halfway out the door when a hand, strong, but gentle, was placed on his shoulder. Shiro, the nicest guy in the planet, pulled him back and a wave of embarrassment threatened to engulf him on the spot.

Lance began, "Shiro! I- I'm really sorry about that earlier-"

"Don't worry about it, Lance, I know you're stressed," Shiro, who was taking an MA in Social Work and was far too caring to be considered real, patted him on the shoulder. "Try not to be too hard on yourself. The main point of the program is for you to make friends. You should have fun too."

"Really? 'Cause I thought the main thrust of this program was to meet cute girls?" Lance tried to finger gun, but a thump on his back sent him pitching forward and out the door. He looked back with his best pained expression.

Shiro was unmoved. "Keep talking like that and she'll never assign you to girls." The door was moved to close on his face.

It was late afternoon when Lance found himself on the maroon and cream hallways of his university's Student Hall. The Sunken Garden, a 5-hectare expanse of land that was once a parade ground, was visible from where he was standing. Some people were playing soccer, others were enjoying the setting sun, tourists were taking pictures of everything. The August rains had kept the grass green, an altogether beautiful sight. Lance tore his eyes away when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

> > **Hunkules ❤:** so how’d it go
>> 
>> **pidgeot:** how’d what go
>> 
>> **Hunkules ❤:** lance is trying to get out of keith
>> 
>> **pidgeot:** lmao
>> 
>> **lancel lannister:** once again i am defeated by blue eyes and her white dragon
>> 
>> **lancel lannister:** double team bes ( ͡° ͜ʖ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°)
>> 
>> **Hunkules ❤:** awwww sorry about that bud
>> 
>> **pidgeot:** gross
>> 
>> **Hunkules ❤:** suddenly not sorry about that bud
>> 
>> **lancel lannister:** get out of our chat u filthy imperialist usamerica n!!!!
>> 
>> **pidgeot:** IT IS MY WHITE PERSON'S BURDEN TO TELL YOU U R GROSS
>> 
>> **Hunkules ❤:** FFUKKCKKK
>> 
>> **lancel lannister:** PUTEK PIDGE TANGIN A
>> 
>> **pidgeot:**  ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿'̿'\̵͇̿̿\з= ( ▀ ͜͞ʖ▀) =ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿  fite me
>> 
>> **lancel lannister:** JUNK EDCA
>> 
>> **Hunkules ❤:** IBASURA
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> **Keith is calling...**
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> **lancel lannister:** OH FUCK
>> 
>> **lancel lannister:** keith is  cal  ling
>> 
>> **pidgeot:** lol bye
>> 
>> **Hunkules ❤:** ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
>> 
>> **lancel lannister:** HUNK DON'T ME 

 

-

 

Of course, with just one call, he went. Lance was beginning to feel like that one Charlie Puth song, except it was more annoying than romantic. He did, however, play it in the car, and he was singing along as he pulled up to the International Center's driveway. Keith, in a black shirt and red jacket, was waiting for him on the curb.

Lance rolled down his window and said, in perfect Korean, "Get in, loser, we're going shopping."

Keith raised an eyebrow in response, before walking around the sedan to open the passenger door. Once settled in, he turned towards Lance, who was negotiating the curve to the street, and asked in the same language, "How did you know I was going shopping?"

"Oh, you were?" Lance was a bit surprised himself. He just assumed Keith wanted to eat out of the dorm for a change. (He understood that.) "You wanna go to the mall?"

"Yeah. I just need some stuff for my room," Keith replied. He was still looking intently at Lance, inherently curious. "How did you know?"

"Lay off the inquisition, pal, it was a line from a movie. _Mean Girls_ ," Lance changed lanes now that he knows where Keith wants to go. He should teach Keith about public transportation, and maybe Uber if he's really having a hard time. He couldn't blame him. Traffic in the Philippines was a nightmare, especially if one was used to South Korea.

Another pressing thing that struck him, now that they were on the freeway, was that apparently, Keith hasn't seen _Mean Girls_?

"Keith, you haven't seen _Mean Girls_ ?" Lance took a quick look at his passenger. Keith was on his phone, presumably looking up _Mean Girls_ with the slow connection. Lance had helped him set that up a couple of days ago.

"Uh, no," was the answer.

"Hmm," Lance hummed, as traffic came to a full stop at North Avenue. They could be waiting here for another half hour. "Which Korea are you from again? The one that banned sarcasm?"

Later on, at the end of three weeks, Lance would look back to this day and think, _ah that was it_. Lance would remember the loud snort from his right side, recall how he whipped his head so fast because he couldn't believe what he was hearing, relive the sight of Keith laughing into his hand, orange and yellow and red from the signal lights dancing on his face. Lance could almost feel his fingers shaking on the wheel, a sudden lump on his throat, and then laughter.

But for now, Keith was punching his arm in mock anger, because the joke was actually kinda offensive; and Lance was telling him his Netflix password between hits, as a kind of reparation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my brother's buddy once called him up for a shopping trip lol
> 
> thanks to @kraaaay and @chewykrinkle for being such good friends & sports huuhuuh
> 
> \----
> 
> “ano’ng” - _tagalog_. contraction of ano ( _what_ ) and ang ( _the_ ), “what”  
> “annyeong” - _korean_ , 안녕. short, informal form of annyeong haseyo, “hello”
> 
> The joke is that “Ano’ng sa’yo?” ( _What’s yours?_ ) sounds a lot like “Annyeong haseyo” ( _Hello_ ).


	2. weekend 1: sampaguita

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tour, and somebody goes missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: my friend kray made some [real cute art](http://krayonela.tumblr.com/post/151187012950/tumblrs-been-wonky-for-me-since-a-couple-of-days) ahhhhhh
> 
> so sorry this took so long, i had to do some research ;n;;; xox
> 
> some music :))  
> [lance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pCK05BPTOQ)  
> [keith](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcqDLzp0ai0)

****For the first Saturday of the school year, Allura and her international buddy committee organized an educational and historic tour of Old Manila. Foreign exchange students and their respective buddies were encouraged to join. _Required, more like_ , in Lance's point-of-view, as Allura's follow-up letter last night had borne veiled threats for "deserters". Normally, he would be relaxing at home - playing video games with Hunk, annoying his older siblings, and eating homemade food for a change. _But life, unlike ABC, can never be as easy as 123_ , Lance thought, vaguely humming the song, as he sat on the edge of the fountain adorning Plaza Roma.

The heat was unbearably oppressive for August, and Lance could almost smell the rain falling down by mid-afternoon. Unfortunate, as he had left his umbrella at home. Hopefully, the tour would end before lunch, and he would survive this trial intact.

Fanning himself with some of the brochures they got at Fort Santiago, Lance let his eyes wander over the Spanish-era square, immediately alighting on the group of girls with Allura and her white dress. She looked devastatingly beautiful, as always, with her silver locks in a bun, a wide brimmed hat, and Audrey Hepburn shades. The girls all looked fresh and clean too, unlike him, whose thin shirt was drenched in sweat and clinging to him like a second skin. Lance sighed. He wanted to be with that group, but Allura had driven away his smooth attempts to socialize.

Unlike him, Shiro was allowed into that bevy of beauties, and the sight of him in a tank top was another thing driving Lance mad. How dare he look so good? The sun was even glinting delicately on Shiro's metal arm like he was the fucking Winter Soldier. Lance also wanted to try tripping and being caught by those arms, and he would definitely have done so, had he not been rendered tired and lethargic by the heat.

Somewhere to his left, a tour guide started a practiced spiel to another group of foreigners. Plaza Roma and its surrounding structures - the Manila Cathedral, Palacio del Gobernador, and the Ayuntamiento de Manila - represented some of the very best of colonial Spanish architecture in the country. All of them were modern reconstructions, as numerous earthquakes, and most prominently, World War II, destroyed much of the walled city of Intramuros throughout its 400-year history. The place lived and breathed history in its cobbled stone paths, stained glass windows, and horse-drawn carriages.

But Lance, as a Tourism major who knew Intramuros like the back of his hand, and who had written dozens of papers on its tourism practices, was understandably bored out of his mind. He glanced at the red facade of the Palacio del Gobernador to his left - maybe the cute secretary he met the last time he visited the Intramuros administration was still there? His lethargy won, however, and he turned his mind towards matters more immediate. Like Shiro in his tank top.

"Do you think," Lance spoke as if waking up from a long dream, unfocused, "if I gave Shiro application letters to the APO frat, he'd join the Oblation Run?" The Oblation Run was an annual tradition where members of the APO fraternity ran stark naked for a particular cause. It was a regular cause célèbre.

Beside him on the fountain, Hunk breathed in sharply and Pidge almost choked on their burger. Both turned their faces towards him with varying levels of disgust.

"Lance, why do you always insist on being so fucking gross?!" Pidge waved the burger near Lance's face. "Keep your sex dreams to yourself, okay?"

"I don't think Shiro would ever join a frat," Hunk put in, squinting at Shiro's figure at the distance. "However, that would definitely make the Run more interesting, _beshie_."

" _Diba_?!" Lance regained some focus from Hunk's endorsement and reached out for a high-five, while Pidge started groaning.

"Not you too, Hunk, am I the only sane person here? I saw that last year and I wasn't impressed," Pidge scoffed.

"Exactly! Current interest in that event has flagged down considerably, and we need some new blood to keep it erect," Lance rattled off. "And I believe Shiro stands as the most promising candidate."

Pidge rolled their eyes as Hunk clapped solemnly. "Now I'm impressed. But you should've squeezed in a Dick Gordon joke somewhere in there," they said.

" _Ipasok si Dick_ ," both Lance and Hunk whispered the classic meme like a mantra. Let Dick enter.

Lance sat back to marvel at Pidge's genius. The kid had transferred to their university last semester, after their father, Professor Holt, accepted a visiting professorship. While they could barely understand Tagalog in ordinary conversation, some strange ability gave them higher levels of meme comprehension. Even in another language.

Pidge had also gone on this particular tour last semester, and had not needed to hang around in the heat at all, as Lance now pointed out.

"Listen, Lance. I can do whatever I want," Pidge stared back at him, sunlight on their glasses, "Plus, I wanted to meet Keith."

That shocked Lance right out of his lethargy. "Why?! I already told you he's a nightmare!"

"That's right, you never stop talking about him - Keith this, Keith that - naturally Hunk and I were curious."

"I don't think he's that bad? He was nice enough when we introduced ourselves," Hunk offered his unsolicited and wrong opinion. "His face did turn a bit sour when we said we're friends with you."

"Yeah, there was brow action going on," Pidge added.

"How dare he?!" Lance shot up, gesturing wildly. Foreign tourists started backing away from them. "When I have been the _best_ buddy ever, this whole week?"

Lance was remembering the disgustingly domestic shopping trip they shared the other day, where he had to bodily stop Keith from buying an air-conditioner for his dorm room. They settled on a large electric fan instead. After that, they had another argument about which sheets Keith should buy - the one with cats or the one with dogs, and Lance was adamantly for the cats - but Lance thought that overall, it was a fun, productive evening. It stung a bit that Keith apparently didn't think so?

"Oh, whatever, I'm over it," Lance brushed it off. He wasn't over it. He did, however, try to cover up his irritation with boredom. "I just want to go home. This is boring."

"Aw, come on, Lance, look at them." Hunk's voice was gentle, placating. "They're having fun.”

Lance looked up, and sure enough, the foreign exchange students were having fun. Big smiles on their faces, excited voices as they ask in turns about the history of that building and the other, laughter permeating the air. Some were taking pictures in front of the Manila Cathedral's travertine stone statues, camera lenses pointing up to its bell tower. He spied Keith taking selfies with a carriage horse, its coachman patiently waiting to the side. Lance had to suppress a snigger, because Keith's mullet matched so well with the black horse's hair.

"I guess I could wait a little longer," Lance whispered, too distracted by Keith waving goodbye to a horse to check if his friends had heard him.

 

-

 

San Agustin Church, the next stop in their itinerary, was located at the intersection of General Luna Street and Calle Real. Finished in 1607, it was the oldest church in the country, even surviving the 1945 Battle of Manila, when the rest of Intramuros was decimated. It remained one of Lance’s favorite churches, with its fourteen side chapels, pineapple pulpit, and trompe l’oeil ceilings. In fact, Lance had just lighted a candle in front of the fifth Station of the Cross when Allura appeared beside him. As the church was also a popular spot for weddings, he was ready to dramatically get on one knee and propose when Allura cut him off.

“Lance, have you seen Keith?”

Lance’s knee locked him into an awkward position, halfway to the floor. “Uhhh, I thought I saw him by the garlands?”

Allura looked and turned back, disappointed. “No, he’s not there anymore, I checked! I actually checked all over but I can’t find him!”

“Well I’m sure he’s just around here somewhe-”

“We’re moving on to the museum now, and he’s missing! I thought _you’d_ know, Lance, you’re his buddy!” Allura was worried, crumpling her hat in one hand.

_Not by choice!_ “I don’t exactly keep him in a leash, Allura?” Lance straightened up, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. Trust Keith to ruin everything, even his peaceful church time, where he was out of the sun! “I’ll go look for him, you guys go on.”

Allura lightened up, and Lance hoped she was going for a hug, but she just grasped him by the shoulders and said, “Thank you, Lance! I knew I could count on you!”

“I am being played, but I don’t care,” Lance whispered as Allura went back to the group.

Sighing, he trudged over to the side chapel leftmost of the main altar, just in case Keith was with Pidge and Hunk, inspecting the tomb of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi for their conspiracy theories. He wasn’t there.

“Any of you guys seen Keith?”

“Lost your _buddy_ , Lance?” Pidge crowed, not even looking up from Legazpi’s bronze foot.

“Shut it, Pidge. Allura sent me.” Lance turned to Hunk, who was his best friend and would never let him down. Hunk’s eyes shifted from Legazpi’s chestplate to his friend.

“Keith was here a while ago, but he left. Too bad, he seemed really interested in our theory that Legazpi was an alien,” Hunk supplied helpfully.

Lance narrowed his eyes at them. “I know the rector and you’re never getting that tomb open!” he hissed, before leaving the way he came.

“Oh, just you wait, Lance!” Pidge’s loud voice followed Lance out as he passed through the central nave, which was decorated with sampaguita for a scheduled wedding. “Just you wait!”

 

-

 

Heading out of the church, Lance followed Calle Real towards Puerta de Santa Lucia, thinking that Keith might have gone to see the gate. He tried calling the fool multiple times, but he was not answering, and once, even deliberately declined the call. Lance was furious. What was up with Keith?

So there he was, alternately calling out in English, Tagalog, and Korean, to the amusement of the locals passing by. Keith was nowhere to be found at the Puerta, nor the Cuartel, and Lance just wanted to scream and run and leave Mr. Shithead Mullet alone to fend off for himself.

Gritting his teeth and complaints, Lance walked southeast towards Sta. Potenciana. He hoped Keith hadn’t decided to visit the Baluartes because it would be near impossible to find him then. The air was humid and heavy and he could feel the rain just waiting for the right time to meet earth. He randomly stopped another old man in a bicycle.

“ _Manong, may nakita ba kayong Koreano, mga ganito katangkad, mahaba yung buhok? Pulang t-shirt?_ ” Old man, have you seen a Korean, about this height, with long hair? Red shirt?

The old man thought for a moment. “ _Andami dito ‘pag Sabado! Hindi ko alam kung Koreano, hijo, pero meron naglalakad mag-isa kanina sa may Cabildo._ ” There’s so many of them around on Saturdays! Not sure if he’s Korean, son, but there was one walking alone around Cabildo.

Lance almost cursed with gratitude. “ _Salamat po, Manong, ingat!_ ” Thanks, old man, take care!, he said, as he raced down Sta. Potenciana, took a right down Cabildo, and Keith was there, alone at the corner of Recoletos, staring at his phone. Lance, out of breath and out of patience, almost blind with with sweat running down his face, reached out and grabbed the back of his collar.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

A struggle. Keith turned so fast, twisting his arm up and behind him in a moment, Lance crying out in pain. He _did not_ deserve this. This _was not_ what he signed up for when Allura handed over the buddy registration forms. It was starting to be the worst decision in his life.

Keith let go almost immediately upon seeing his would-be-attacker, but Lance, elbow smarting from the blow, and very near his boiling point, grabbed him by the collar again.

“ _‘Tangina mo, gago!_ ” Lance cursed, pulling Keith up his height, but Keith was out of his grasp in an instant, glaring at him two feet away.

Lance had never been in a fight, and he knew Keith could beat him up with his military training, but at that point, he was willing to risk it, just for a chance to punch the ungrateful stuck-up’s face. He ran all this way to find him and he got a smarting elbow in return? Fuck that.

A light rain was falling. People were staring, wary of the fight. Lance watched his opponent closely for a breakthrough. But Keith dropped his gaze and picked up his phone before it got wet.

It unnerved Lance, whose arms were raised and ready for anything but that. “The fuck? I thought we were gonna throw down?”

Keith looked at him with something like contempt, wiping his phone screen on a sleeve. “You wouldn’t last a minute.”

“You don’t know that! You afraid or something?” Lance jeered, trying to get him riled up. The people, seeing no fight happening, were starting to walk away.

“I’m not afraid of anything, least of all, your bony ass, Lance,” Keith snapped, eyes flashing. “Why are you here anyway?”

Lance could not believe what he was hearing. “Why am I here? Are you seriously asking that? Why are _you_ here? Why the fuck were you not answering my calls? I’ve been looking all over for you, you asshole!”

Keith’s ears turned red at that. He was visibly deflating, and even his cheeks were turning red, which made Lance highly suspicious. He pressed forward, closing the distance between them.

“Uh, there was a _minyong_ ,” Keith said, evasive.

Lance had never heard of that in his 3 years of Korean language studies. “What the fuck is a _minyong_?”

The other boy fiddled with his phone and handed it to Lance. Lance swore.

A _Minyong_ was a fucking Dratini. Keith went off the grid, made Allura worry, caused Lance to run more meters than humanly necessary, and also left a bruise on Lance’s arm, just to catch a fucking Pokémon. Lance felt his anger flare up at this discovery.

“Keith, you fucker,” Lance started, furiously scrolling down Keith’s collection of high level Pokemon and getting angrier by the second. “Where’d you get this Dratini?” he continued, pulling out his own phone.

“It’s gone now,” Keith replied, almost apologetically.

Lance screamed at this injustice, as the promised rain finally rushed down to kiss sweet earth.

 

-

 

“Yes, Shiro. Near Silahis, yeah. Okay, Shiro, my hero, Sh-ero, we’ll wait.”

Lance ended the call and faced Keith, who looked like a drowned rat with his hair all over the place. He supposed he looked the same. The two of them had run to the nearest shelter, which ended up being the restaurant Ilustrado.

“Shiro says to wait for the rain to stop. They’re at Mitre, but he’ll come fetch us,” Lance explained. “I told him about your Pokémon escapade.”

“Ugh,” Keith kept his arms crossed.

“But, while we’re here, you should sample their famous sampaguita ice cream!” Lance actually just wanted to have one for himself, after all the running and sweating he did, but hospitality was ingrained into him, his very being, and even if he hated Keith and his Pokémon guts, he still prided himself on being a good host. Or _buddy_.

They followed a server to the main dining room. Upstairs, a wedding reception reserved the Sinagtala Ballroom, probably the same couple that had a scheduled wedding at San Agustin. White flowers adorned the stairway leading up to the ballroom.

Wide and airy windows filled the main dining room with natural light, despite the torrential rain still pouring outside. Lance ordered two cheesecakes and two sampaguita ice creams for them, wincing a bit as he handed back the menus.

“I’m sorry about the arm,” Keith spoke up across him, looking embarrassed. He put his hands on the table, and put them back his lap again. “I-I was surprised.”

Lance was taken aback. In fact, he hadn’t expected an apology at all. He moved his arm around tentatively. “It’s fine, it doesn’t really hurt that much.”

“Still. Sorry,” Keith mumbled, before sipping from a glass of water.

“Y-yeah,” came Lance’s totally not-awkward reply. Dead silence followed, with Lance debating whether to berate Keith some more, or crack some Pokemon jokes. He supposed he should talk to Keith about this whole wandering lone wolf thing, but how? Were buddies trained in this? Did he miss some orientation thing? Something like, _How To Talk To Your Annoying Foreign Buddy_. He was pretty sure he slept through some of it.

They had an easier time on that shopping trip when they were arguing over fans and sheets. Lance wasn’t sure how to act around Keith without being pissy at him. He wasn’t sure where to look either, especially since they were facing each other - outside the window, on the bit of collarbone visible above Keith’s collar, above the bald head of the patron behind them.

Keith was on his phone again. Probably checking up on his new Dratini. Lance forced himself to look at his own game instead and found out that he hatched a 10 km Eevee. Well, at least all that walking had some purpose.

“Look at this,” Keith waved his phone in front of Lance’s nose. On it was a picture of Lance with his face halfway through a cut-out standee of a young Filipina woman in traditional dress.

“Why do you have that?” Lance screeched, making a grab for the phone, which Keith pulled away with a smirk.

Granted, Lance was being silly and a lot of people were taking pictures, but he didn’t expect Keith to be part of it too? He wasn’t sure what to feel about Keith having a picture of him on his phone.

“If you want a picture of me, I’ll send you a good selfie!” Lance winked, because that was what he always did, fall back on flirting in the face of uncertainty.

He thought Keith turned a bit red, but the bald-headed customer shouted at him to keep quiet before he could check.

The arrival of their orders saved them from more of Mr. Bald Head. Lance perked up at the sight of cakes and ice cream.

“This is vanilla ice cream flavored with sampaguita. The Philippines’ national flower,” Lance babbled, while Keith inspected the yellowish dessert in front of him. “Come on, try it!”

Keith looked doubtful, but he took a spoonful, as Lance waited with bated breath. Keith’s eyebrows quirked a bit, a thoughtful look on his face.

“It tastes like that church,” Keith met Lance’s eyes, with a slight smile, before taking in another spoonful.

“Yeah,” Lance smiled back, digging into his own bowl. “Yeah, it does.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- the sampaguita ([arabian jasmine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasminum_sambac), Jasminum sambac) is the national flower of the philippines. it’s usually used as garlands in churches. legend says it’s name comes from the tagalog phrase “ _sumpa kita_ ”, usually translated to “ _i promise you_ ”. It can also mean “ _i curse you_ ”. however, my preferred translation would be “ _you are my promise / curse._ ”
> 
> \- thank u for reading this travelogue, pls visit the philippines!!
> 
> \- lance & keith are always talking in korean; [pokemon have korean names!](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/List_of_Korean_Pok%C3%A9mon_names)


	3. week 2-3: tama na 'yan inuman na

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith, relaxing into routines, awkwardness thawing. And a drinking party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- [lance is confirmed cuban!!](https://twitter.com/Voltron/status/784472314004008960)
> 
> \- this chapter has more filipino words/phrases. i tried my best to translate them all without being jarring, but some are memes, and some are just untranslatable (i.e. kilig)
> 
> \- music: [lance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCuwovFCJNE) x [keith](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MIbgD5iMXg)

The second week of the semester rolled in, and Lance conveniently forgot to teach Keith how to use public transportation. That was what he told himself, when he kept putting it off until it was too awkward to open that subject without seeming like he wanted to eject Keith from his car. He consoled himself with the idea that Keith went to the foreign students' orientation, where they, as far as he knew, included some lectures on jeepneys and bus routes. If Keith _really_ wanted to ride a jeepney, then he could and he would.

It was a good thing that their respective colleges were so close to each other. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Lance had taken to driving by Keith's dorm in the morning, parking by the College of Human Kinetics, and crossing the footbridge to his home Institute of Tourism. He knew Keith's schedule back and forth, from all the running he did to get his slots, and he would usually be back in time to drive Keith to his next class at Arts and Letters. Sometimes, he'd find Keith leaning on his car, waiting for him. His own class was Geology at the other side of campus, so all he was doing was dropping off a buddy on the way over. Lance was being practical.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, Lance had back-to-back classes from very early in the morning, but Keith's day started after noon. He found a take-out rice meal crawling with ants on the hood of his car once, which he took as definitive proof that Keith could navigate from his dorm to his college. After all, it was very easy – just one jeepney ride away.

 _Or maybe he walked?_ Lance thought as he picked through the ants to get to the rice.

 

 **sang'gre pidgerena** : you mean you ate it? it was crawling with ants??? 

 **so(lance) heussaff** : Don't Judge Me I was hungry :((( also u can eat ants wtff

 **so(lance) heussaff** : [ https://www.quora.com/Is-it-safe-to-eat-food-after-ants-have-gotten-to-it](https://www.quora.com/Is-it-safe-to-eat-food-after-ants-have-gotten-to-it)

 **so(lance) heussaff** : [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5W3FglFUpE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5W3FglFUpE)

 **hunk <3 evangelista**: methinks the lady doth protest too much

 **sang'gre pidgerena** : how do you even know it's from him

 **so(lance) heussaff** : he stuck a katalk sticker on it...

 **hunk <3 evangelista**: ohhh legit

 **hunk <3 evangelista** : also idk what ur eating but here's a gr8r ecipe for ants!!! ginisang abu-os! [ http://www.myfresha-licious.com/2012/05/exotic-ginisang-abu-os-antik-sauteed.html](http://www.myfresha-licious.com/2012/05/exotic-ginisang-abu-os-antik-sauteed.html)

 

Conversations with Keith also went far easier from before. Both of them were relaxing into their routines, the awkwardness of their first week thawing as car rides went by. Sure, Keith had a sharp tongue, always ready to insult Lance when he was late, but Lance never failed to answer with a perfect comeback, and they would passive-aggressively snip at each other until they parked the car. 

Lance enjoyed these car rides, and he couldn’t help it. Keith was becoming a friend. This realization annoyed him more than anything else Keith did.

-

“I'm glad you're getting along with Keith.”

Allura had insisted on weekly updates regarding their buddies' status, health, and overall conditions, but, due to her busy schedule, Lance had to catch up with her at Palma Hall, on the way to her next class.

“Please, Allura. I get along with everybody. It's really not that hard,” Lance emphasized it with a wide hand gesture that arched over his head and back to his chest. “I'm very charming.”

“Yes... exactly what you were complaining about a week ago,” Allura graced him with a withering look, one that Lance mirrored in return.

Allura was ticking off her fingers while walking very fast. “All right, what else... How is his English? Does he need a tutor?”

“Uhh, we mostly speak in Korean, but I think he understands English just fine?” Lance thought back to the few times he tried English with Keith. Pidge and Hunk both had been able to communicate with him despite not knowing Korean, so that might indicate some kind of comprehension, right? “He's probably just shy about the accent...”

“Maybe you can work with him on that.” Allura spoke over Lance's groan. “How about Filipino? Did he want to learn?”

“I-I... don't know, I never asked him.” Lance almost tripped when Allura skidded to a stop before a wooden door.

Allura winked at him, saying, “Don't you think it's worth it to ask?” before disappearing behind the door to her class, leaving Lance somewhat bewildered.

-

Arguments seemed to be staples of Lance and Keith’s current relationship. And this morning, the chosen subject was movies. Over the weekend, Keith had actually used Lance’s account to watch Mean Girls - followed by Clueless, Heathers, Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles.

"Did you actually choose those movies, or were you just playing whatever's recommended?" Lance stifled a laugh, when Keith shot a dirty look at him.

"At least I'm not the one losing sleep over Narcos," Keith snapped. "You finished season two in one night!"

Lance, still suffering the effects of that sleepless evening, struggling to keep his eyes open even as he slowly parked the car, grumbled, "Come on, drug wars and government-sanctioned killings? It's almost like watching the news."

He could feel Keith looking at him a bit worriedly, and he changed gears. "But let's not talk about politics! Allura was talking about you learning Filipino! How about it?"

"Uh, I came here to practice English, actually."

"That's a lie! You literally always use Korean on me!"

"No?! _You_ always practice your Korean on me! Like, I get it, Lance, you have no one else to talk to and you don't want to forget, but let's not make things up here," Keith’s tone was bitter.

“W-What,” Lance sputtered, turning his face sideways to where Keith sat glaring at him. The thing was, he couldn’t even deny his behavior, even though he’d done it quite unconsciously. Okay, so maybe it was wrong to assume he’d rather speak in Korean. But if Keith said right  from the start that he wanted to practice English, then they could have worked it out. Keith never said a word.

“Fine!” Lance switched to English, snatching the key from the ignition viciously. “Let’s talk in English! You should have told me from the start what you wanted!”

Keith was surprised, but readily fired back in the same language, “Your friends asked me if it’s okay to talk in English, but you never did! And you’re supposed to be my buddy!” Visibly annoyed, he wrenched the car door open and started walking to his college without a backward glance.

“Well then, why don’t you go and be best buddies with them instead if you really want to, you special snowflake!” Lance shouted at his retreating back.

“I don’t even know what that means!”

A passing _taho_ vendor called out to him cheerfully, “ _Mainit ulo ng jowa mo?_ ” Your boyfriend seems angry? Lance banged his head on the steering wheel.

That afternoon, Lance arrived to find another rice meal waiting, but this time, Keith was there. They ate inside his car, in silence, until Lance ventured to offer a compromise.

“I’ll help you with English if you help me practice Korean, like some of the time…,” Lance pushed his spoon around the take-out container. “It doesn’t even need to be everyday…”

Keith wasn’t looking at him either. Lance guessed they were both embarrassed about their little spat.

“Fine,” Keith released a breath he was holding in. “But only if you teach me Filipino, too.”

 _Oh!_ Lance lightened up considerably. That little suggestion from Keith did wonders for his mood. That was good, right? Was this why Allura told him to ask? Were they _bonding?_  Lance’s thoughts were racing a mile a minute - he never took education classes but maybe, Shiro could help him look for good beginner materials?

“Sure!” said Lance, eager, excited, in danger of spilling rice all over his car, “What words do you know?”

“ _Mabuhay, kumusta, salamat po, magandang... umaga_ ?” Keith looked over, while Lance nodded enthusiastically. “ _Oo_ , _hindi, magkano_ , uh… _mura_ ?” A pause. “... _Mahal_?”

Oh… That last one meant expensive, but it was dangerously close to _mahal kita_ , and Keith was waiting for some feedback, but Lance was having trouble finding words. He didn’t think it was possible for Keith’s voice to go lower but it somehow did when he used Filipino words. _This was a bad idea. Allura! This was a bad idea!_

“T-That was pretty good! Uh, you really shouldn’t use _Mabuhay_ as a greeting, I’m telling you, nobody just randomly says _Mabuhay_ as a greeting - just say _kumusta_ , _‘musta, p’re_ , _ganun_! Haha,” Lance forced himself to continue on. He hoped he wasn’t blushing, but a quick look up the rearview mirror showed he was.

This wasn’t good, this was _not_ good at all. “Let me teach you some more!” Lance started randomly pointing at parts of the car as a distraction, “ _Manibela! Kambyo, preno, silinyador! Busina, kotse!_ ” He turned to Keith, who had been looking at him like he grew another head, and pointed at him.

“ _Tampalasan_ … _talipandas_ ,” Lance whispered ominously.

Keith pushed his finger aside, saying, “You are the worst teacher ever,” before focusing on his food, leaving Lance to the uneven beating of his own heart.

-

But one other thing happened, before we moved on with the story. The _taho_ vendor came back, and with his kind face and cheerful voice, asked an interested Keith, “ _Ano’ng sa’yo, hijo_?”

Lance laughed so hard, when Keith, slightly confused, bowed and replied, “ _Annyeong haseyo._ ”

“I can’t believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book,” Lance nudged Keith, who pushed back in annoyance, and smiled at the _taho_ vendor. “He was asking you what you wanted.”

“ _Anyong sa’yo?_ ”

“ _Ano’ng. Ano’ng sa’yo._ ”

His hand was burning, on Keith’s shoulder. What did he want?

-

 **hunk <3 evangelista** : @lance… chito.. lanchito miranda… _uwi na u beh di na kami galit…._

 **sang’gre pidgerena** : LANCE!!!!! we never see you!!!! Anymore!!

 **so(lance) heussaff** : wait

so(lance) heussaff changed their name to lanchito miranda

 **lanchito miranda** : omgg

 **hunk <3 evangelista**: <3<3<3<3<3<3 yessss

 **lanchito miranda** : OK GUYS LET’S SCHED INOM TAU NGAYON NA CALL SHIOR

 **lanchito miranda** : SHIRO

 **sang’gre pidgerena** : bring keith!!!!!!!!

 **lanchito miranda** : pidge did u drink coffee again these !!!!!!!!! are too much

 **lanchito miranda** : also ummmmm whyyy??? u pashnea??

hunk <3 evangelista added Takashi Shirogane to the chat

 **sang’gre pidgerena** : ssheda!! how dare u talk to a sang’gre like that CHITO!!!

 **sang’gre pidgerena** : SHIR Oo!!!

lanchito miranda changed Takashi Shirogane’s name to shiron cuneta

 **shiron cuneta** : Hi guys!

 **hunk <3 evangelista**: omg Yes!!!! Shiron!! hahaha

 **lanchito miranda** : dear heart we’r e going drinking!!! also pidge wanted me to bring keith :’((

 **sang’gre pidgerena** : yes bring him i wanna talk conspiracies with him

 **shiron cuneta** : What time? I have class until 7pm, can you wait? And yes, Lance, bringing Keith would be a good idea :)

 **sang’gre pidgerena** : 7 ok!!!

 **hunk <3 evangelista**: G! sarah’s? omg lance, are you afraid keith’s gonna outdrink you??

 **lanchito miranda** : WHAT

 **lanchito miranda** : NO???

 **lanchito miranda** : I’M GOING TO DEFEAT HIM

 **sang’gre pidgerena** : nice one hunk!!!!!!!!! avisala my dudes!!!!

-

Sarah’s. How does one explain Sarah’s? For decades, this homey bar had received wide-eyed, desperate university students in need of a drink into its embrace. Cheap beer, cheap food, proximity, and an infestation of cats - all served to improve its popularity with the student body. Even with the rise of various food establishments along Maginhawa Street, Sarah’s, situated just outside Krus Na Ligas, continued to be a bustling, thriving hub of activity every night.

“It’s not much, and the cats could be annoying.” Lance’s seat was currently occupied by a cat, and he was coaxing it away, “But it’s basically an institution.”

Keith looked up the neat rows of Christmas lights twinkling above them, a half empty glass of beer in one hand. “We had places like these too. Back in Korea,” he said.

“Tell us about Korea! I’ve never been!” Pidge, small in their oversized jacket, and nursing a Red Horse beer close to their chest, as though afraid Shiro would randomly grab it out of their hands, spoke up across him.

“What do you miss the most?” Shiro switched his gaze to Keith from the bottle on Pidge’s hands.

Keith appeared to consider, and took another swig from his beer. “The food, and the trains,” he answered.

Lance made a face beside him. “Yeah, the train system there was pretty amazing. Almost every university has a station.”

“I miss the trains back home, too,” Shiro, a Japanese national, nodded knowingly.

“The Shinkansen was awesome! I went on exchange there, that’s how I met Shiro!” Hunk raised his glass towards Shiro, both of them smiling.

“Hunk basically convinced me to study here. He told so many stories, and cooked lots of great food, that I just had to.”

“And now he’s even better at Filipino than me! I’m sure you’ll get better at it too, if Lance actually tries to teach you,” Hunk continued, drowning out a _Hey!_ from Lance. “What do you like most, so far?”

Keith was silent for a moment, shifting on his seat. His right knee bumped into Lance’s thigh - the alcohol was making him hyper-aware of Keith’s movements, he reasoned. Lance nudged back harder, just to annoy him. It worked.

“I like this beer,” Keith shook the glass on his hand. “Everyone’s been very nice. Except for Lance-”

“What!” Lance protested. “Say that again!”

“Don’t start fighting,” Shiro said weakly, while Pidge started pelting them with peanuts.

They grill Keith some more, and surprisingly for Lance, Keith handled his friends quite well. Once or twice Lance had to translate a phrase he wanted to say, but for the most part, Keith put up even with their most embarrassing questions. Pidge was a KPop fan and wanted to know whether Keith had met any idol yet. ( _Red Velvet performed in the military_.) Hunk was curious about the Samsung Galaxy recall. ( _I have an iPhone.._.) Shiro wanted to learn more about Korean food, which was not a good idea because, while well-meaning, he was the worst cook out of them all. ( _I don’t think you should put soy sauce in hotteok._ )

Before long, they had gone through a couple of drinks each, except for designated driver duty Shiro, who nevertheless managed to eat all the pork in three servings of _tokwa’t baboy_ , leaving just the soggy tofu, and almost making Pidge cry.

Lance was buzzed, but not drunk enough, and he followed Keith up to the bar to order more. He sidled up and listened to the other boy talking to the bartender. Careful and precise, enunciating each word slowly, one wouldn’t think Keith had some to drink - if it weren’t for the slight flush on his cheeks, a brightness in his eyes, the loosening of hard edges on his smile. Lance, head on his hands, slumped on the bar, was in a perfect position to observe. Keith turned to him, and he looked so _open_ , so unreserved, that Lance’s breath caught in his throat.

Keith was asking him something. It took Lance a while to focus and read the words on his lips. “ _Ano’ng sa’yo?_ ”

The answer didn’t burst out of him like a river breaking a dam - it flowed out of his mouth like a steady stream, surprising him by his apparent calmness. Lance said -

“ _Ikaw._ ” You.

\- slurring a bit, before pulling up short. _Wait- what did I say?_ Cold broke through the haze in his head, _did I just -_ Lance could barely keep himself from freaking out. Did Keith hear? Did he understand?

And Keith was red, up to his ears, biting his lower lip and pointedly not looking at him. He did, he understood, and Lance wanted to die of embarrassment right then and there, had it not been for the bartender who came to his rescue.

“ _Hikaw? Bro, lasing ka na yata, hindi ito piercing parlor._ ” An earring? Bro, are you drunk, this isn’t a piercing parlor.

Lance forced out a laugh, “ _Pare, bigyan mo ‘ko ng tatlong Red Horse, pakiusap lang, lasingin mo ako_.” Dude, hand me three Red Horse beers, please, just get me drunk.

They walked back to the table in silence, Lance still freaking out because of his weird Freudian slip, and the weird feelings he was trying not to acknowledge. He’d known the guy for three weeks! Surely, that wasn’t enough time? His thoughts were a mess. Considering he fell for people quickly and intensely ( _ningas-kugon_ , Hunk once described him), he was probably lying to himself, but just using the words “ _fell for_ ” for his current predicament was just making him sweaty and anxious as hell.

 _RIP, Lance_ , he concluded.

Pidge was holding out a hand for one of the Red Horse bottles when they arrived, and he started reaching out to hand them one.

Beside him, Keith spoke up, still not looking at him, “Where’s the toilet?”

The lack of eye-contact was negated by Keith speaking in Korean, knowing only the two of them could understand. He was talking specifically to Lance, for some reason. However, since Lance’s hands were preoccupied by beer bottles, he used his lips to point out the general direction.

“Over there,” Lance continued pointing with his lips.

Keith’s eyes had snapped to his lips, and he stood motionless for a moment, eyebrows furrowed in apparent concentration. _Oh yeah_ , Lance remembered, _he probably doesn’t understand_. He moved to free one hand, just as Keith’s own hand shot up and brushed across Lance’s puckered lips.

_Oh God-_

Lance was pretty sure he fell backward, because his ass was on the floor next to a livid cat, and his friends were crowing their faces off. Keith, the Asshole, hightailed it out there so fast, towards the general direction he was pointing at. Rolling with him were the precious bottles of beer he needed more than ever.

“What the fuck - _the fuck_ was that?” Lance’s voice was conspicuously an octave higher.

Pidge (sober, having the time of their life) replied, “I don’t know, I suddenly can’t see.”

“ _Putek, kinikilig ako sa inyo homaygad,_ ” said Hunk (drunk, crying tears of joy). Shit, you guys are so cute together, it makes me sick, oh my god.

Shiro (designated driver, slightly pissed that he can’t drink) ended him with, “That was the lamest move I have ever seen.”

Lance (on his knees, in equal parts despair and thrill) screamed, “It wasn’t a move?! _Putangina, anuna?_ Friends, I never taught him that? Please explain? _Paki-explain, labyu??_ ”

“Why don’t you try explaining what you feel to us,” Hunk, an engineering student masquerading as a psychology major, offered. It was soundly vetoed by Lance’s governing body.

“You need to defeat him in single combat,” Pidge, who was always out for blood, suggested.

“That is it! Pidge, you are a genius! You have reminded me of my purpose - to defeat him in drinking - and that is what I will do!” Lance picked himself up from the floor and slammed his hands on the table.

“No, no, that is literally the worst thing you can do, Lance,” Shiro tried to knock some sense into his drunk friends, to no avail. “You need to talk in private, figure things out.”

However, Shiro’s words went unheard, as Keith graced them with his return. He looked like he just dunked his head into water, judging from the wet mullet dripping down his collar. If Lance could force his heart to stop, he would, but he couldn’t - not when he was remembering Keith’s thumb on his lower lip -

“Keith Gyeong, I challenge you to a drinking match!”

Confusion steeled into resolve, as Keith let himself get provoked into the match, despite strong opposition from Shiro, who had to get their asses home. Pidge and Hunk started chanting “ _Drink, drink, drink, drink!_ ”, much to the displeasure of a neighboring table engaged in linguistic discourse.

“Fine. You’re going down, Miranda,” Keith sat down opposite Lance.

“I was born and raised with _lambanog_ , my guy, if anybody’s going down, it’s _you._ ”

“Go down on each other,” drunk Hunk whispered in his inebriated state, which Lance _chose_ to ignore, and which Keith probably did not understand.

Pidge officiated the match, passing them pints of beer they got from the bar. “Okay, on the count of three, one - two - three!”

Needless to say, Lance passed out after a couple of pints.

-

And woke up with a splitting headache. Lance groaned and tried burrowing his head into the pillow, but with the constant pounding in his head, he couldn’t go back to sleep. Last night was a mistake. Rolling over, he opened his eyes blearily.

The ceiling looked a bit unfamiliar, and his pillow was the wrong color - did his mother change his sheets randomly again? Sunlight was also streaming from the wrong side of the room, and he was lying on a twin, not a queen size bed. The electric fan slowly whirring left and right and back again was oddly familiar, like he just bought it at a department store inside a mall with another person -

\- Keith.

Keith bought it and he was there and this was Keith’s dorm room.

Shocked, Lance sat up straight, which did just _great_ with his vertigo. His sight was spinning, but he spotted a couple of paracetamol tablets and a glass of water on the bedside table, which he eagerly drank. Sinking back down the mattress to calm himself, Lance realized he could smell Keith on the sheets, which he kicked back in panic.

Lance was fully-clothed, except for his shoes, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief. But soon enough, he was cringing at himself, pressing down his eyes in embarrassment. His cheeks felt hot. He felt hot all over. Maybe he was coming down with something. Maybe he’d be stricken down with a disease serious enough for a month at the hospital. _But I have acads_ , he thought bitterly, scrapping the idea.

He knew he was being paranoid, but _did he go home with Keith_ ? What was up with that? Wasn’t Shiro supposed to drive him over like the responsible adult that he appeared to be? Breathing slowly, he tried to rationalize. This wasn’t the first time he’d woken up in another person’s room. The spot beside him wasn’t warm, and Keith did not appear to be there, nor in the adjoining bathroom. _Wait, what time is it?_

His phone was on the desk, and it said 10:42am. Great, he just skipped all his morning classes. Why did they drink on a Thursday night? _Walwal pa more._

Gingerly, Lance tried to sit up again, succeeding this time. Sliding on his shoes, he wobbled to the door, passing clothes on the ground, some sports science books, an Alien poster and a worrying collection of fingerless gloves. He might as well look for Keith while he was there.

He got as far as the International Center’s lobby, in the clothes he slept in, squinting at the sunlight. Coran, the “dorm mother”, was at his desk, and the older man waved him over with a stern expression. _Oh, man_ , Lance thought. He wasn’t exactly in any condition to deal with Coran.

But before Coran could scold him, Shiro appeared like an apparition from the other side of the lobby. Lance saw his shock mirrored on Shiro’s face, who was suspiciously wearing the same clothes he was wearing from yesterday. Shiro’s dorm was at Ipil and the gears in Lance’s brain were whirring into overdrive as he struggled to connect the dots. He screamed, pointing a finger in accusation.

Shiro, red in the face and clearly uncomfortable, bolted out the front doors before Lance could accost him. Which wasn’t fair as Lance’s head was still hurting.

“Hello, young gentleman!” Coran’s huffy voice called him back from where he was staring at Shiro’s grand escape. “I never thought I’d see you back here, doing the walk of shame. Again.”

“Give me a break, Coran,” Lance whined, draping himself over the man’s desk. “My head’s spinning and I just saw Shiro walk the walk. With me. What a nightmare.”

“I suppose it was that dear young lady in the basketball team? You know very well that I do not suffer your continued advances towards my charges.”

“That’s long over and done with, old man, keep up,” Lance pouted up at the mustached face.

“Well! Very mysterious!” Coran considered for a while, then flapped an elegant hand at him. “Now, go off to class and stop sitting on my desk.”

Lance would have loudly complained, but the sight of Keith entering through the front doors stopped the words in his throat. He was sure he was blushing, but hopefully they would chalk it up to a bad hangover. Keith saw him, and moved towards them, a bag with a couple of rice meals swinging from his hand.

“You’re awake,” Keith was looking him over. Coran was also looking at them curiously, and when Lance grimaced at him, he received an eyebrow wiggle in return.

“Welcome back, Keith! Lance was just complaining about his headache,” Coran cheerfully patted Lance’s back, pushing him away and closer to Keith.

“Hi, Coran. Come on, I got you some food,” Keith’s voice was gentle, and Lance wanted to cry, mostly because his stomach had been growling in hunger. He followed Keith back to his room, where he sat down on the bed while Keith busied himself with the low table.

 _How did I end up here?_ Lance wanted to ask, but he was afraid of ruining the moment, or whatever it was, where Keith was taking care of him, for a change.

Instead, he asked, rather petulantly, “Why aren’t you hungover?”

Keith grinned, like it was an inside joke. “Practice.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

Lance didn’t. He was so far from hate that it was bordering on something else entirely. Something he’d already felt once, fleeting, stuck in a car, with orange and yellow and red lights dancing on a laughing face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- [BONUS SONG BECAUSE UPD X SHARON CUNETA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmdH6KQcwNY)
> 
> \- this chapter was by far the hardest to write, and i took so long, to those of you who stayed, thanks so much!! i really appreciate it ❤️❤️ the next one might come late too, as i have to work on another fic. hopefully it's the last chapter i'd have to write while staring at a map
> 
> \- mean girls is actually NOT on netflix ph, it's on iflix... i was wrong... the other movies are probably not available too but please.... just assume....
> 
> \- this is [taho](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taho), a sweet soy snack food
> 
> \- the gang's usernames are puns on filipino celebrities' names; pidge's is a character from a fantasy series
> 
> \- if you have any questions on fil. translation etc, please don't hesitate to hmu on [twitter](https://twitter.com/juleybee) or tumblr @roarsharktest! :)) thanks for reading xoxox


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